Here on the dope the world “tranny” is considered to be extremely offensive, almost close to “n word” status if used in the context of describing a transsexual person. Based on that response I’d kind of gotten the vibe that it was probably also getting to be in the status of an unacceptable word in general real life conversation.
However, in two instances over the past month I heard/seen the world tranny used as part of casual spoken and written articles/conversations referenced below.
Where does the offensiveness of this word stand with the transsexual community at large? Is it akin to the n-word or just considered annoying?
Once on the show “Ray Donovan” where the young son of the main character uses to word to describe the sexual preferences of an actor friend. In this instance the main character Ray Donovan had demonstrated a degree of sympathy toward transsexuals so it does not sound (contextually) like the word is being used with the intent to insult transsexuals, merely as a descriptive word.
In another case here Justine Musk (ex of Elon Musk) is referencing a bloggers comments about people who are lifestyle designers which is kind of fascinating in and of itself for the things that concern the truly wealthy. There is seemingly no recognition by her of the word “tranny” as offensive.
Oh, dear. I’ve never heard the term used in relation to anything except the transmission of a vehicle. My reaction to reading your post was a visceral, “OMG, how vulgar and insulting!” Just one person’s opinion.
It’s not a word widely recognized as offensive, but yes, I think it’s fairly offensive, especially in the context used above where a transsexual is meant to be a dirty, wrong thing.
As with anything, it’s going to depend on intent. Transexual issues are really just getting steam, I’ve met a number of people who, while they don’t really understand transexuals and think it’s a bit odd, bear them no ill will. However, they also thought “tranny” was a perfectly okay term for them. This calls for gentle correction, not crucifixion.
That said, it’s usually considered rather vulgar. At least in the spheres I frequent. I think the metric usually is, if the person is making a conscious effort to post about trans issues and use “tranny”, they probably know better and are using it offensively. But it’s common for people who are simply uneducated to use it innocently. It’s not like “nigger” or “kike” where more people know it’s offensive even if they don’t really keep up with racial issues.
ETA: That really didn’t completely answer your question. In pretty much every trans circle I’ve seen, tranny is considered rather vulgar. I’ve read and talked to quite a few, but I’m not an expert.
I’m the one who wrote the post referenced above, and it was careless and insensitive of me to include a quote using the word ‘tranny’ without either changing that word or making it a point to point out that the word is not acceptable.
I apologize, am ashamed, and it will never happen again.
Maybe it’s just me and/or the influence of having open and out family members as far back as the 1970’s, but I’ve been pretty clear that the word “tranny” is unacceptable since the late 1980’s, if not earlier.
I have noticed, though, that it is like “nigger” in that it can be used teasingly by members of the group without causing true offense. A transsexual friend recently posted something like, “We were as giddy as a station wagon full of trannies on their way to a sale at the wig shop!,” and it was meant and received as funny by other trans-persons on their feed.
“Tranny” is generally an offensive term for “transgender” or “transsexual”. Some people within the community reclaim the term (for examples read “Gender Outlaws - the Next Generation” by Kate Bornstein), but people outside the community using it are generally offensive.
As to whether it is a term to describe “sexual preference”, this seems misguided. Transgender people, including transsexual, genderqueer, and other folks, deal with issues of gender identity and expression. Straight, gay, lesbian, and bisexual people (which includes all of us) are distinct on the basis of orientation. “Sexual preference” is used more often as the wrong way of referring to orientation. It’s the wrong way because preference implies a certain flexibility. If you prefer cola to ginger ale; it still may be perfectly OK to give you ginger ale, but most people are not OK with having sex with people of the gender they’re not attracted to.
“Transgendered” is considered by many an incorrect term, with “transgender” being more proper. “Transgendered” seems to suggest that something happened to a person, whereas “transgender” refers to an identity. At least, this is how I understood learning about the issue recently. However, plenty of people still use “transgendered” within the community or when talking about themselves, and I don’t think many consider it pejorative.
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Transgender people, including transsexual, genderqueer, and other folks, deal with issues of gender identity and expression.
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I agree that people often misunderstand this. Gender identity and sexual identity are two different things. I know a transgender woman who is in a relationship with a cis woman. “Tranny” is often used in a sexual context. In the fetish world, I identify as a “sub”, a “pet”, or a “bottom”, but it would be super weird if someone called me a “dirty pet” at work. I might say “you’re a hot tranny” to someone in that environment, but it would certainly be odd to say that to them at the office. Of course, most people aren’t involved in the fetish world, so sexualizing them with the word “tranny” would obviously be offensive in any setting.
I’ve had this discussion a lot in the special needs world. Person first language is a big deal for many, so big in fact that it has been given a life of its own. I’m not going to sit and stir the shit pot for hours over whether someone should say “my autistic son” or " my son with autism". Take the term “retard” for instance. If someone directly calls my son a “retard”, it’s pretty clear to anyone within earshot who the real retard is. But the term used in a different context is meant to be funny. I just don’t think it’s a big deal in the right environment with the right intent.
Any word or phrase, when used to harm, is bad. It’s all about intent. Language has power, but only as much as we give it. Generally, when someone says things that are openly offensive and meant to harm, I consider the source and act accordingly.
Recall that very often people who cisgender folks think are transsexuals are really just crossdressers who call themselves “transgender” because it’s an umbrella term and they, by most definitions, fall under it. In my experience, they are the primarily the ones who use the word “tranny.” It doesn’t bother them as much, because after they’re done with hanging out at the bar and being loud and drunk while playing dress-up flirty-games, they can go home and take off all their makeup and wigs and clothes and walk away from it all.
Whereas I and most of my friends are 100% out and permanent as women. We’re not playing “dress up,” we’re living our lives in our new gender, every second of every day. I have never met a transsexual woman in person who thought the word “tranny” was funny or amusing. At best, it elicits an eye roll.
Other terms which are offensive are shemale and ladyboy (in most situations, not all).
I hate to a bitch, but unless you are one of us or have extensive experience working directly within our community, I’m not sure you’re going to have a good opinion-based answer (note I didn’t say “fact-based”). It’s like me, a white chick, responding to a question about whether African-American women are offended by the word “negress.”
It’s a term that’s thrown around pretty casually by my roommate and his friends - they are mostly gay males and women (straight or not) who have a lot of gay male friends, and we live in the Boystown neighborhood in Chicago which is a famous gay village and also one of the drag show capitals of the USA. I can’t set foot outside without seeing people of ambiguous gender, or cross-dressing men. There is a lot of prostitution near where I live, and it is almost all cross-dressing men or those transitioning MtF (hard to tell).
So yeah, it’s a rude word and often considered offensive, but often not mortally so (not at all like a white person calling a black person a nigger). ‘Tranny’ is something you can call a transgender hooker in Thailand (my roommate has been… culturally, gender expression is pretty different there than in the US) or on our corner. It’s their physical descriptor. It’s something you can call someone to their face in a friendly way in some places (the gay bar down the street packed with dozens of men in wigs, your cross-dressing friend at a party) but not in others (never, ever appropriate at the office). It can be used as hate speech, for sure. It’s more about intentions than anything.
I have known a few transgendered people. Truly transgendered, as in, hated the body they were born with and were eager to transition fully with the help of surgery and hormones, legally change their gender, and forever live as that gender. ‘Tranny’ in not something they would ever want to be called.
I’ve also met a lot of guys who like dressing up as women sometimes or a lot, but really like their male body and do not identify as female.
‘Fag’ is similar in the gay community. At least among the people I know.
I’ve usually heard it used like this, to refer to the weekend crossdresser who plays dress up. At the local gay bar you might hear someone refer to that tranny that comes in with a blonde beehive wig, but never about someone who has made a serious gender change. I don’t use the term, but will take your opinion to heart should it come up in the future.
Side note-One of the owners of the gay bar in question is a straight guy who races and build cars in his spare time. Someone pointed out that if you Google his name and the word “tranny,” you get some interesting results.
Paradoxically, certain cultural assumptions prevalent in gay male communities are the *least *conducive to understanding trans women. Very often gay men whose views are formed by that milieu assume that trans women are just another form of gay men, which is absolutely untrue. I love my gay brothers and when they make such mistakes, I can tell that it’s intended benignly, so I will gently correct them.
I remember the first time I ever wore heels. From my very first steps in them, my gait was perfectly effortless and graceful; I went to a party where a couple of my gay friends were awed at my immediate adeptness in heels, and started telling me about “one time we tried drag, and we couldn’t walk in heels at all!” I pointed out that my attire was not “drag.”
Another gay friend, who had known me before I had transitioned, once admired my forearms which had only a slight whispering of very fine, sparse little hairs. He pulled up his shirt sleeve to show me his forearm covered in a dense mat of gorilla fur, and expressed amazement at my arms. I gently reminded him of what should have been obvious—“That’s because you’re a man and I’m a woman, my brother.”
A gay director made what he considered to be a very trans-woman-positive farce of a movie called Ticked-off Trannies with Knives, featuring not trans women but drag queens exhibiting the grossest stereotypes of drag queen behavior. And then of course there was the offensive term “trannies” flung in the public’s face. When the trans community, and GLAAD* as a whole, took offense and protested vigorously, the director was blindsided, gobsmacked, flabbergasted that they didn’t like it! To his mind, the “trannies” were supposed to enjoy the film and feel flattered by it. Dude just *did not get it *at all. So the moral is don’t bring your preconceptions of trans women to the table. Discard all preconceptions and just listen to us explain who we are. Thank you.
